Bean and Sausage Soup with Sweet Potatoes

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When I asked my son to fetch a cookbook from the bookshelf for me, I planned to wait until he got to the shelf, then I was going to describe the spine of the book I wanted. Instead I watched, fascinated, as he walked backward then shuffled sideways across the room to the bookshelf, never taking his eyes off Sesame Street. His hand skimmed along the rows of cookbook spines, then rested on one. He pulled it out as his eyes flicked toward it (if I had blinked I would've missed it) and back to the TV. Then he shuffled over to me and dropped the book in my lap. Easy Meals in Minutes, from the Time Life series. Hmm. It wasn't the one I wanted, but OK.

In that cookbook I found this soup; the main thing to recommend it was that with one minor substitution I could make it for dinner without going to the grocery store. I wanted to include some bread but didn't have that either, so it was the perfect opportunity to try the Minimalist's flatbread recipe. Yay! Thanks for the cookbook, kid.

I made the "bread" first because it had to bake up to an hour. I was using an 11-inch skillet, so I upped the flour to 1 1/3 cup (1 cup whole-wheat, 1/3 cup cornmeal) and the water to a scant 2 cups. I had to add a little more flour to get it to the "pancake batter" consistency it needed to be, then I added a hefty pinch of salt. I heated 2 tablespoons olive oil in the skillet on the stovetop, poured in the batter and transferred it to a 400-degree oven for 45 minutes. It wasn't like any "bread" I had had before; it was dense and chewy with a crunchy exterior. Without any expectations, it was satisfying.